Book of Mercy Reviewed By Kari O’Driscoll of Bookpleasures.com

Kari O'Driscoll

Reviewer Kari O'Driscoll: Kari is a
non-fiction writer whose work has appeared online at
BuddhaChickLife.com,ElevateDifference.com,and BlogHer.com.She
maintains a blog at The Writing Life where
she writes about parenting, her unique spiritual journey, and life in
the Pacific Northwest.She is currently working on a memoir of
a two-month trip to Europe with two toddlers and is an avid reader
and cook.

Book of Mercy is a
tremendously fun read for anyone who loves books. The unlikely
heroine of the story, Antigone Brown, is a dyslexic woman who
discovers that there is a contingent of women in her small town bent
on banning books from the school library. While she has always
viewed books as tools of torture, Antigone can barely contain her
rage at the audacity of this self-appointed group of saviors. Their
tactics are sneaky and elitist and Antigone is determined to stop
them.

The book is set in the
small town of Mercy, North Carolina and could be Anywhere, USA. It
is easy to imagine these characters acting on their strong beliefs
and letting things get out of hand, ultimately dividing the
townspeople. Antigone’s idealism is further fueled by the news of
her pregnancy and her desire to protect books their ideas for her
unborn child. She begins her campaign by appealing to the school
board. When that gets little attention, she takes matters into her
own hands.

Antigone has a small band
of fierce supporters, among them her husband and a homeless teenager
she rescued. Together, they bring the issue to the forefront of
conversation in town and stir some strong sentiments. The book takes
more than a cursory look at book banning and presents compelling
characters with arguments on both sides of the issue. While the
situation is ultimately resolved to Antigone’s satisfaction, it
isn’t clear whether Irene, the woman who spearheaded the banning
effort, truly understands the error of her ways in the end.

The issues surrounding
censorship have been around for decades and the glimpse into the
individual motivations and group dynamics of people we can all
identify with brings a richness to the story. The characters in Mercy are lively and fun to follow. This picture of small-town
life in the South feels realistic and it is easy to see how book
banning gained footing in a place like Mercy.

Sherry Roberts Bio Take From Amazon.com

"I write books about people
who lose their muse (Maud's House), a dyslexic fighting a town that's
banning books (Book of Mercy), and a yoga teacher trying to balance
her search for inner peace with her fascination with mayhem (Down Dog
Diary).

In the lovely Minnesota
summers, I grow flowers: from dahlias and geraniums to lantanas and
zinnias; practice my yoga; ride my bike; and feed the hummingbirds.
In the sometimes-long, but always pretty Minnesota winters, I walk
in the snow, read by the fire (probably the latest Dennis LeHane or
Jim Butcher), and bake cookies. And I watch basketball, alternately
howling with affection or growling with despair at the Minnesota
Timberwolves. I have yet to become too attached to baseball and the
Twins. I fear I might have a bit of my mother in me, who was a HUGE
St. Louis Cardinals fan and complained when they stopped taking her
calls.

I started out, fresh out
of journalism school at the University of Missouri, chasing down
stories for the Springfield, MO, Daily News. I continued my
reportorial career in Vermont at the Burlington Free Press. Then my
husband discovered computers (a Radio Shack TRS 80 no less) and spun
our lives in an entirely new direction to North Carolina, where he
got a job editing a computer magazine. I wrote for local
publications, became editor of a regional magazine, and enjoyed a
wonderful few years writing op-ed pieces for USA Today.

Then in 1990, my husband
and I started The Roberts Group, a firm that provides editorial
services, graphics design, and Web services. And we've been doing it
ever since in North Carolina and, now, in Minnesota."